Smart Heated Clothes Drying Airer Racking Units

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to smart clothes airer with IoT technology. It is an electric heated airer/clothes rack with IoT technology to be controlled by a mobile app operated in Android and IOS with supporting elements for the clothes drying rack being associated with the longitudinal members.

BACKGROUND Copyright Notice

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, bit otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a portable dryer and airer for clothing after it has been washed, which can be used around a dwelling in various locations with Smart IoT functionality.

Description of the Related Art

The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.

A clothes airer, sometimes called a clothes rack, drying horse, clothes maiden, drying rack, drying stand, Frostick, airer, or (Scots) winterdyke, is a frame upon which clothes are hung after washing indoors or outdoors, to dry by evaporation. The frame is usually made of wood, metal or plastic. There are many types of drying racks, including large, stationary outdoor racks, smaller, folding portable racks, and wall-mounted drying racks. A drying rack is similar in usage and function to a clothes line, and used as an alternative to the powered clothes dryer.

Clothes drying racks generally have a main fame, which is constituted, together with the rod-like elements, by the longitudinal members and by the cross-members, and two secondary frames, which have rod-like hanging elements which are shorter than the rod-like elements of the main fame (typically approximately half its length), such secondary frames being either hinged at the cross-members and able to fold onto the main frame or extractable from the main frame.

Many of the prior art structures had somewhat limited usefulness in that they were primarily designed to support generally specific articles such as relatively narrow ties, belts, bands, chains and the like. In view of the foregoing, wider articles of clothing accessories such as scarfs could not be neatly organized utilizing such structures. Generally, the supporting surfaces provided by multiple article support racks have not been of sufficient width to permit wider clothing accessories including scarfs to be neatly stored thereon while simultaneously providing support for other narrow articles. Many of the prior art racks, although providing a plurality of clothing or article support hooks, carried such support hooks along a central support rod in such a way that the rod effectively divided each of the supporting elements into half sections thus restricting or limiting the placement of larger articles thereon. Customary electric clothes airers are hazardous and have increased risks of fire, overheating and unwanted electric consumption which puts extra pressure on our natural resources.

Therefore, there is a need for clothes and garment drying assembly with IoT intelligent internet technology which is capable of effective use indoors without creating the mess normally associated with some prior art devices. None of the prior art methods are completely suitable to meet these needs and are cumbersome. The present invention provides such a method and the overall combination of these features is nowhere disclosed in the prior art cited above which appears to be representative of the general art in this area although it is not intended to be an all-inclusive listing of pertinent prior art patents.

SUMMARY

In light of the disadvantages of the prior art, the following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the present invention and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the invention can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, and abstract as a whole.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an electric heated airer/clothes rack with IoT technology to be controlled by a mobile app operated in Android and IOS.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to clothes airer, wherein each upright member is constituted by a frame,

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide racking/airer with electric heated features with Smart IOT technology. This allows the user to control the drying rack from a distance while being in use plugged into a socket.

It is another object of the present invention that it is made with heated elements inside the racking tubes, added additional functions of smart plug and heating features which allows multiple controls of the ariers for the user to control the device while either fully in or out of reach of the ariers. In particular, the legs consist of multi-layer pipes.

It is another object of the present invention is to provide racking tubes with heating features to dry the clothes. The tubes can be connected to each other by means of connecting elements and thus form the supporting structure. These connecting elements are preferably made of low weight material so can be easily connected to the pipes.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide clothes drying rack that is simple to use like known clothes drying racks.

Briefly, It is a primary object of this invention to provide extendable article support racks for clothing accessories including scarfs, chains, ties, belts, handbags and the like wherein the support racks provide a plurality of spaced upper and lower support surfaces upon which a variety of such clothing accessories may be simultaneously supported.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved clothes drying and airing rack which has all the advantages of the prior art examples and none of the disadvantages.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively simple inexpensive drying rack that can be easily folded so that it can be carried or stored in a relatively small space.

This Summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing some example embodiments, so as to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the subject matter described herein. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subject matter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparent from the following Detailed Description, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

FIG. 100 is a view of the invention showing the claimed design.

FIG. 200 shows another view of the clothes racking model.

FIG. 300 shows another style of clothes racking unit.

Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments or the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to make or use the embodiments of the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure, which is defined by the claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Specific dimensions and other physical characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are therefore not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having an ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating possible combination in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specifications and claim/s should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.

The proposed invention is a Smart clothes airer with IoT functionality. The invention is an electric heated airer/clothes rack with IoT technology to be controlled by a mobile app operated in Android and IOS.

The invention involves the traditional features of a standard clothes racking/airer with electric heated features with Smart IoT technology. This allows the user to control the drying rack from a distance while being in use plugged into a socket through a wifi or a mobile app.

The invention involves IOT based airers that will eliminate the possibilities of fire risks hazards with the control timed operation, and it will stop the machine from running longer than required saving energy and pressure on the electric grid from controlled operation. Time control and operation can be done as easy as with voice commands through Google Assistance or Alexa. This will motivate the user towards easier voice operation resulting saving in electricity and reduced possibility of overheated clothes saving from fire.

The airer rests on the floor or other supporting surface with the lower ends of the frames in contact therewith so that the airer is extremely stable and it can be folded. The rods are advantageously arranged so as to be parallel, mutually facing with respect to each other in the configuration, so that hanging is possible.

The invention is made with heated elements inside the racking tubes, added additional functions of smart plug and heating features which allows multiple controls of the ariers for the user to control the device while either fully in or out of reach of the ariers. A user can switch on and off the device without having to manually be present near the plug while it's in use. They can set a timer for how long the heating should be on using smart IoT functionality. There is a voice command using Google or Alexa to control the features fully. WIFI connection is compulsory for the racking unit to enable the smart functionalities while the commanding device such as a mobile phone or a tablet should also have an internet or data connection for this function to work.

Moreover, the clothes drying rack according to the invention can be compacted easily in the inactive configuration, in the same manner as known clothes drying racks.

Another embodiment of the invention is to provide new clothes drying and airing rack which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.

Since the drying rack will be made of a pliable material, it is believed obvious that it can be folded so as to be stored away in a relatively small space.

Thus, embodiments provide for an automated laundry system that is suitable for household use and capable of queuing multiple loads.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claim reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter. 

1) A smart clothes airer with IoT technology comprising; a. Fixing lengths, b. extendable tubes, c. heated clothing racks; d. connectors to join the rack. 2) IoT technology with an electric heated airer/clothes rack with IoT technology to be controlled by a mobile app operated in Android and IOS. 3) clothes airers being controlled by using a voice or distant command using an app or software. 